The Halloween Party (Night #2) Review!!

Here's our review of last night's second half of "The Howling", J.D. Pearce's 14th annual Halloween party concert event! First off, both this concert and Friday's first half took place upstairs at The Rockstar Bar, not downstairs at The Algonquin Pub. Apologies for any confusion, earlier promotion only said this would be at "The Algonquin Hotel", which tends to mean downstairs if advertising isn't specific. The venue was nicely decked out for the occasion, and there were lots of memorable costumes among the strong attendance, including Wayne & Garth, Wario, Elliot & E.T., Guy Fawkes, and Frankenstein's Monster, among many others! I was in steampunk garb, FYI.

Opening the Howling was (effectively) local punk trio Redundant in their second show in a three day span, as they tackled a Weezer tribute set... well, mostly! With bassist James White absent for unannounced reasons, the guys had originally enlisted Travis Sharpe to fill in for the tribute, but with his band Soundcheck playing at the Reggievelt last night, veteran local punk bassist Andrew MacDonald took over the low end instead. Great choice, and familiar to Justin Langlois and Rick White already from their old bands Fitswitch & The Scary Uncles, but how did the set proper go? As advertised, the guys covered a selection of Weezer songs like "Hash Pipe", "Say It Ain't So", and "El Scorcho" (albeit sans "No Scrubs" interlude), and despite warnings from Justin about their amount of jam time on these songs, they all sounded fine! If anything, some of the vocal rhythms were a touch off, but that's minor. If you're not a Weezer fan, than don't worry, as Redundant didn't just cover them!

In a second half stretch, they broke out some renditions of Operation Ivy, Vaselines, and Rise Against tunes, and even one original ("That December" from their new EP), so that was a nice bonus for diehard Redundant fans! Andrew fit in very well on these songs, and everyone handled the Weezer end nicely despite any prep-time issues, so what more could you ask for! Justin even had a sweater on for "Undone"!

The second band last night was the one-off Tool tribute, who didn't have a proper name, though they did jokingly refer to themselves as the actual Tool. Comprised of alumni of bands like Redefined, Sense of Truth, Half Past, and Late Shift, fans familiar with those groups knew the talent on display from this quartet, and it's clear that they brought their A-games for this one! Tackling a range of Tool singles like "46 & 2", "The Pot", and "Parabola", their knowledge and handling of these familiar prog-metal tracks was crystal clear, and if this was a full time band, they'd already be worthy of headline status! I haven't seen John Barber and Anthony Gagnon on stage in a few years, and it felt like no time had passed, with John having a very strong handle on Maynard's distinctive vocal style, and both Steve Myers and Alain Fletcher had every song down pat, even if Steve's wig didn't survive long! These guys got the best crowd on the floor of the night, and with this excellent performance, can you blame them?

Headlining last night was the long awaited reunion set from local horror punk/metal favourites Frightlight, in their first public concert appearance since the Halloween party four years ago! Lineup-wise, this was a reunion of their 2011-2014 incarnation, albeit sans rhythm guitarist Kevin "St. Mayhem" Powe for unannounced reasons (though he did design this concert's poster.) Hopefully nothing bad happened! Much like their first 2009-2010 gigs, Frightlight played on as a quartet for a very nostalgic set that included their entire "It's A...Live!" EP, plus later originals like "World War Z", and a cover interlude where they tackled a GG Allin standard and, of course, three Misfits songs. It was great to see the guys don the face paint and member vests one more time, especially Rick Styles and Eddie Fright, who we haven't seen play guitar or bass on stage in far too long. Johnny Pints' vocals sounded rougher than normal, but his commanding stage presence was still intact, of course!

While a rhythm guitar presence was missed, Frightlight gave fans one more entertaining fright night for the Halloween season, and here's hoping there's more in the pipeline when the time is right! Overall, this was a fun way to cap off a busy Halloween weekend, and while there is more to come given the mid-week Halloween timing this year, hopefully this weekend's parties helped satiate your metal and punk desires! You can check out our photos and videos (which do work this time!) at this link or at our Facebook page, all courtesy of my new Fujifilm Finepix S8000FD, which is definitely proving to be a wise purchase based on the photo quality so far! There are still some kinks to work out, especially regarding how far I can push it's battery life, but things will become more consistent at future shows. As for our videos, here's Redundant covering Weezer's "My Name Is Jonas", the one-off Tool tribute band tackling "Schism", and Frightlight playing "Dead Town Anywhere"!







That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Project 906) & More Halloween Weekend Concert Previews!!

(Updated at 7:27 PM) The always busy Halloween concert weekend is now the entire focus of today's news post, as due to a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for TOMORROW NIGHT, I have opted to add it to this post and bump our shorter news item block to our next news post, likely coming by Halloween night. Now, let's dive into previews of the Saturday night Halloween weekend metal and hard rock shows in the Sault area, including one more new show for next month!

Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Project 906 will end a nearly 2 month public hiatus when they return to Bird's Eye Outfitters (and/or The Superior Cafe) TOMORROW NIGHT for their monthly musicians showcase! Apologies for the short notice, the band only signalled their involvement via their Facebook page earlier today. I'm not sure where Project 906 have been so far this fall, but it's great to see Billy, Dustin, Joe, and Tommy back on stage, let alone in their first gig at Bird's Eye since August, so keep this show in mind! The band will also return there on November 2nd (next Friday) in a presumed solo concert, so if you want to see the solo experience of this fan favourite hard rock band, circle your calendars for that date! TOMORROW'S show will indeed be Halloween themed with drink specials and a costume contest, but I cannot confirm any of the other performing artists at press time. Both of these shows have no announced cover charges or age limits, as usual for this venue.

As for starting times, TOMORROW'S musicians showcase will begin at 6:00 PM, while next Friday's concert will start a little later at 7:00 PM. Hopefully Sault Michigan fans get their Halloween party fill TOMORROW at The Superior Cafe, and don't miss 906's return to the public stage then or next week! For a preview, here they are live this summer!

Next up, the second night of promoter J.D. Pearce's 14th annual Halloween party (alternately named "The Howling" this year) goes down TOMORROW NIGHT at The Algonquin Pub, and it will be toplined by a one-off reunion of local horror punk/metal quintet Frightlight! Four years after their concluding their 2009-2014 run at this same event, this fan favourite band will be resurrected for another set full of horror-tinged action, so how about one more "fright night" for old time's sake? No word on how their lineup will be comprised tomorrow, but aside from their drummer, Frightlight's lineup was pretty stable when not counting temporary absences. I can't confirm whether Frighlight will go all-Misfits to play along with the tribute theme, but the opening bands are definitely playing tribute sets, albeit as one-off bands without a publically stated name. Personal Facebook postings have confirmed each band's lineup, so who can you look for tomorrow?

One will be a Tool tribute band featuring former Late Shift bandmates John Barber & Anthony Gagnon alongside Wild Iris guitarist Steve Myers and Skeyes of Seven bassist Alain Fletcher (prior references to HTs bassist Ryan Disano being involved have not been followed up on in recent weeks.) Very talented lineup, and fans may have seen members cover Tool in some of their prior bands already, so they should have a good handle on things tomorrow! The opening band is a tribute to Weezer, and they will be a trio featuring Redundant bandmates Justin Langlois and Rick White, while James' bass spot will be filled for this set by Soundcheck singer/guitarist Travis Sharpe. No word on how Travis' involvement will impact Soundcheck's show at Reggie's West tomorrow night, but he theoretically could head there after the Weezer tribute's opening set and still play most of that show too. Again, this tribute band looks good on paper, but how will they sound tomorrow at The Howling?

And yes, expect lots of Halloween frills tomorrow, as well as a costume contest, so come on down to The Algonquin Pub (not Soo Blaster) if you want some live horror punk, alt-rock, and prog-metal tribute action! Unless you bought a $15 weekend pass for both nights of the Halloween party in advance or at tonight's opening half, admission for tomorrow's 19+ concert will be $10, and a 10:00 PM start time is advertised. With Halloween being mid-week this year, come out to The Algonquin Pub for some early seasonal rock tribute action tonight and tomorrow, and have your costumes ready! For a preview of tomorrow's concert, here's Frightlight live in 2014!



Lastly for known hard rock and punk concerts in the area this weekend, we'll head to The Harp Pub & Grill for our first concert preview there in over 2½ years (and first non-Tym Morrison preview there since the Madison's Pub era), as local acoustic hard rock trio The Wyld Stallyns will make their debut at the Pine Street bar TOMORROW NIGHT! After years away from booking multiple local music acts on a regular basis, The Harp recently relaunched and has begun hosting more concerts (albeit generally acoustic ones), with the Elements side project being the first of a heavier vein in this new era. Oddly, the venue has not hyped this show up with any Halloween themes or specials, but The Wyld Stallyns' fan friendly blend of covers and audience participation should go over well at this intimate central venue tomorrow! A 9:00 PM start time is advertised for this 19+ event, which has no announced cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, here's The Stallyns live, and The Harp's back in our active venue links!

 

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile next! Thanks everyone!